Two close contests in the T20 format and two successive defeats for Team India at the start of its tour of New Zealand. Yet, unlike many others, I don’t believe the team’s morale will have taken a body blow as it heads into the five match one-day international series against the Black Caps.

Of course, India’s strokeplayers – up against a steady and resilient bowling attack, led by the crafty Daniel Vettori – let the team down in both games. If they learnt any lessons from the seven-wicket loss in Christchurch, it was not in great evidence in Wellington on Friday.

Then again, there are positives that the team can take into the one-day series. The most important thing is that Team India has had a good look at the Black Caps – something that had not happened since September 2005 when the sides played the final of a trination event in Harare. The ICC World T20 in 2007 clash was the only meeting since then.

Virender Sehwag got off to flying starts in both games while Suresh Raina, in the first game, and Yuvraj Singh on Friday picked up half-centuries that will instill confidence in the ranks. Admittedly, the batsmen will have to do a great deal better in the five ODIs if they are to sustain the development of Team India as a competitive unit.

India’s experienced bowlers, paceman Zaheer Khan and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh how found a rhythm that augurs well for the side but yes, there is work to be done as far Zaheer’s bowling partners are concerned. Ishant Sharma and Irfan Pathan came up a bit short of expectations in the T20s and will have to adapt sooner than later.

There has been a marked reluctance to use Virender Sehwag as a support off-spinner to Harbhajan Singh. I believed that he would have bowled as well as Harbhajan Singh and the rookie left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja. I wonder why Dhoni has kept Sehwag’s bowling under the wraps.

Here’s how the team stacked up in the two T20 games.

Gautam Gambhir: His twin failures should help him learn to wait to assess bounce and movement before playing his strokes. There is no doubt that he has it in him to succeed in the ODIs.

Virender Sehwag: Will need to stretch his good starts into long innings and not gift his wicket away. It is clear that the Black Caps are bowling to a plan, feeding off his strengths.

Suresh Raina: After playing a mature hand in the opening game when he made an unbeaten half-century, the left-hander made things difficult for his team by throwing his wicket in the second match. Will have to be consistent in his approach and performance.

Yuvraj Singh: Has appeared to win a battle with New Zealand captain and left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori when he struck him for two sixes in Wellington after being dismissed second ball in the first match. Can be a big factor in the ODIs.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni: Has yet to find his timing with the bat, though he made an unbeaten 28 in Wellington. As someone who has shown a remarkable ability to adapt to the situation, he was unable to provide the thrust in the second game.

Rohit Sharma: Will have only himself to blame for losing his place in the XI for the second game after playing an ambitious stroke in Christchurch

Ravindra Jadeja: Did his bit with the bat in the second game when he replaced Rohit Sharma in the XI and was more than a handy left-arm spin bowler as he helped Harbhajan Singh bring India back into the game. Sadly for him, he will return home.

Yusuf Pathan: Despite being foxed by Daniel Vettori in the second T20 contest, he will remain an important finisher in the ODIs but he will have to find the balance between unbridled attack and defence

Irfan Pathan: His inability to generate noticeable swing with the new ball in the second T20 game will be a matter of concern, even if he claimed two wickets off successive balls to infuse life into India’s campaign and make the match exciting.

Harbhajan Singh: Few will believe that the off-spinner is coming off an injury that kept him out of the one-day series in Sri Lanka. He has shown mastery over his craft, tying the Black Caps’ batsmen down in both games. And can be a huge factor in the ODIs.

Zaheer Khan: Has shown that he is an eager and thinking leader of the bowling back and a willingness to give up the honour of bowling the first over to Irfan Pathan in a bit to ensure that the fellow left-arm swing bowler could find his rhthym.

Ishant Sharma: Had a memorable start, picking up Jesse Ryder’s wicket with his first delivery in New Zealand but has done little justice to his talent after his appeal for leg before wicket off the next ball – against Martin Guptill – was turned down in Christchurch. He will have to hit the right length to be effective in New Zealand.

There is no point in telling themselves: “We are like this only.” In the run up to the opening game of the tour, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni had talked about adopting an assess-and-adapt strategy but, barring Suresh Raina’s display, the tactic remained on paper and was not in evidence in Christchurch.

Brendon McCullum did offer them a good look at how the innings needed to be structured. The Black Caps’ wicket-keeper curbed his natural instinct for strokes and stayed through the successful chase. It was interesting to note that he termed his own knock ‘ugly’ since he did not get used to the pace of the track.

Gautam Gambhir attempted to swat on the leg-side but the ball was dropped short and kept low enough to hit the top of the middle-stump. In O’Brien’s next over, Virender Sehwag tried to find the short boundary on the leg-side, missed the line and ended up losing his leg-stump. India should have quickly redrawn its approach.

Rohit Sharma flicked Ian Butler for a six over long leg and in trying to repeat the shot – but to a delivery that was kept short and perhaps stopped on him a but – he ended up skying a catch off the leading edge to the gully area, allowing wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum ample time to get under it.

Yuvraj Singh, who had just come to the crease, sought to sweep a ball that was in line with the stumps and was done in by the extra pace of Daniel Vettori’s arm ball. India’s chances of putting up more than fighting total hinged on how well and how long Dhoni could embrace the nip and tuck approach but that was not to be.

It was at this stage that Yusuf Pathan committed hara kiri. Even though his mis-hits clear the ground, he should have been restraining himself after clouting three sixes off successive deliveries from off-spinner Nathan McCullum. It was important that he stayed at the wicket longer since India had lost half the side inside eight overs.

For the second time, New Zealand bowlers had been allowed to bounce back after being struck for three sixes off successive deliveries. It not only showed how the Indian batsmen were intent on unleashing their penchant for the extravagant strokes but also how New Zealand kept its nerve under pressure.

Yes, the ‘rockstars’ will have to learn their lessons quickly.

Dhoni has again reiterated the importance of the assess-and-adapt tactic. “One area we need to improve upon is analysing the situation. One thing for sure is we have learnt a lot from our mistakes. We are a good side that learns very quickly,” he said. “We have youngsters who are willing to learn from the mistakes fortunately, if we don’t commit these mistakes again we have a very good chance.”

India’s fans will hope that Dhoni’s team-mates will not prove him wrong again.